Mamelodi Sundowns legend Teko Modise has urged his former team to treat today’s much anticipated CAF Champions League first leg encounter as a final as opposed to two legs.
Masandawana take on Moroccan giants ASFAR at Loftus Versfeld Stadium looking to gain home ground advantage in their pursuit of continental glory since 2016.
Sundowns reached the final last year but suffered a shock 3-2 aggregate defeat to Egyptian side Pyramids FC.
‘The General’ reckons that even though ASFAR are new to the final, Sundowns should wrap up the tie in Tshwane by using their home advantage.
“The common challenge possibly that we facing this time around is playing against the teams that haven’t been in the final for such a long time,” he said on The Pitchside Podcast.
“We faced Pyramids last season; they were not in the final for such a long time. We playing ASFAR right now, same situations. The only thing they gonna bring is heart and determination.
“And you look at the team ASFAR, they’re not very, very good on the road. You look at how they won the semi-final. They beat [RS] Berkane at home knowing that you securing yourself.
“You can play a little bit different in the second leg, which they did. They lost but they still qualified to get into the final.
“So, for us, we do have an experience. We do have the knowhow; we do have a coach as well that finds himself third time in the final.
“And that experience, it should work on us not against us. But yet again it comes back to that 90 minutes. Let’s not play this final as two legs. Let’s play it as 90 minutes.
“The 90 minutes that we have at home, let’s use it to our advantage.
“Everything that we went through, everything that we faced this season, it should be a story for us to tell after winning this league. After winning this Champions League.
“Because at the end of the day, we can’t work so hard and find ourselves having opportunities to reward ourselves and we just miss it with just one small inches and small margins.
“And I think we really deserve this one. As much as we know we’re not entitled to win it, but I think we deserve this one.
“But I know at the end of the day, the job needs to be done on the pitch, not outside.”
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